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For Immediate Release
Contact:
Debra Humphreys, Vice President for Communications and Public Affairs
202-387-3760, ext. 422
Humphreys@aacu.org
AAC&U Receives Grant from the Henry Luce Foundation to Support Project on General Education for a
Global Century
Curriculum and Faculty Development Project Will Engage 30 Colleges and Universities and National Council in Moving Integrative Global Learning Models from Theory and Aspiration to Practice and Accomplishment
Washington, DC—June 16, 2010—The Association of American Colleges and Universities announced today that it has received a generous grant from the Henry Luce Foundation to support a new project called General Education for a Global Century. The project seeks to build the capacity of colleges and universities to prepare today’s college students to grapple with big global challenges and thrive in a globalized economy as socially responsible and engaged citizens and workers.
“In our Liberal Education and America’s Promise (LEAP) initiative, AAC&U has been working hard to assist colleges and universities all across the country to prepare students for our ‘new global century,’ and this Luce-funded project will allow us to take that work to a whole new level,” said AAC&U President Carol Geary Schneider. “The Luce grant will help campuses develop a comprehensive answer to an essential question we posed in the LEAP initiative: How can we ensure that graduates are well prepared to participate in an interdependent global community?”
Part of AAC&U’s ongoing initiative, Shared Futures: Global Learning and Social Responsibility, this new project will involve curriculum and faculty development that builds upon innovative efforts to re-frame general education courses and programs. Participants will create coherent curricular designs that address complex, global issues across divisions and disciplines. Teams from thirty colleges and universities (to be selected through a nationwide, competitive application process) will lead a high-profile, national effort to
- articulate essential global learning outcomes for all students;
- refine and disseminate models of global general education curricula that can be adapted across all institutional types;
- provide faculty development opportunities to assist college faculty in designing and teaching interdisciplinary, integrative courses that focus on real-world global issues; and
- develop rubrics to assess global learning outcomes.
“This grant provides a wonderful opportunity both to build on the foundation of previous Shared Futures curricular work and to enter into a new collaboration with Project Kaleidoscope to explore critical questions of scientific literacy, social responsibility, and global learning,” said AAC&U Director for Global Learning and Curricular Change Kevin Hovland. “By addressing complex global issues, students develop knowledge and skills that can be tested against real-world problems. We should not save such learning experiences for students in senior capstone courses or selected majors. Instead, in this project we will move problem-based, thematic topics to the very center of general education design to give students multiple chances to integrate their learning.”
Project activities will extend from 2010 through 2012 and will be organized around three strands: communications and public advocacy for global learning; curriculum and faculty development through online and face-to-face meetings and institutes; and outcome and assessment efforts to develop and test global learning rubrics.
Participating institutions will be announced in fall 2010 after a national competitive application process.
For information on how to apply to participate, see www.aacu.org.
About AAC&U
AAC&U is the leading national association concerned with the quality, vitality, and public standing of undergraduate liberal education. Its members are committed to extending the advantages of a liberal education to all students, regardless of academic specialization or intended career. Founded in 1915, AAC&U now comprises 1,200 member institutions—including accredited public and private colleges and universities of every type and size.
AAC&U functions as a catalyst and facilitator, forging links among presidents, administrators, and faculty members who are engaged in institutional and curricular planning. Its mission is to reinforce the collective commitment to liberal education at both the national and local levels and to help individual institutions keep the quality of student learning at the core of their work as they evolve to meet new economic and social challenges.
Information about AAC&U membership, programs, and publications can be found at www.aacu.org.
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